Corinth’s Good Samaritan

Corinth — Jenett Chandler, the woman who knocked on a Corinth family’s home early Thursday morning to notify them that their detached garage was on fire, said yesterday she saw several other drivers pass by the fire without stopping.

Chandler was on her way to work at Dartmouth College at 6 a.m. Thursday when she saw a small fire in the distance on Goose Green Road. At first she thought it was a bonfire but as she drove closer, she saw that a garage was ablaze.

Chandler pulled into the driveway of the property and then began banging on the front door, yelling that there was a fire. Eventually, Pamela Cook and her family came to the door and exited the house.

Chandler then got back into her car and began driving to Bradford to catch a carpool to work. But she left before Cook could thank her or learn her identity, so Cook called the Valley News Thursday in a plea to find the woman who might have saved her and her family’s lives.

When a tip led the Valley News to Chandler, she said in a phone interview that she was surprised that Cook was looking for the Good Samaritan.

“It’s a small town,” Chandler said. “All the neighbors look out for each other. I’m sure if it was happening at my house, a neighbor would stop and tell me. That’s the beauty of Corinth.”

As for the people who drove by without stopping, Chandler said she doesn’t think they ignored the situation maliciously. The drivers probably didn’t realize the magnitude of the situation, she said.

“At that hour, most people are sipping their coffee and trying to get to work,” Chandler said. “They probably didn’t realize their garage was on fire. The camaraderie in this area is pretty tight.”